Tricky Traction Shakes Things Up at Tri-State Raceway on Day Four of Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes

Day four of Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes brought over 200 rides to Tri-State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa. Considering the final checkpoint on day three was the Field of Dreams movie site, some competitors should have seen the curveball coming, as day four found class leads changing hands, consistent rides struggling, and some machines crying '“enough!”

The word of the day at Tri-State was traction, as a tricky surface and the facility’s narrow groove would plague some of the quicker cars.

The quickest time of the day was Bryant Goldstone in his ’73 AMC Javelin, who clocked a 7.40 at just 166 mph on his second run. That would keep him in the lead of Unlimited Iron, as number two runner Pat Myker put the ProCharger-fed ’67 Chevelle down the track with a last gasp 8.37 to solidify second.

Naturally-Aspirated class leader Ed Ensor would score the second-quickest time of the day, putting the ’85 Mustang down Tri-State in 7.70 seconds at 160 mph to keep up his record pace.

One of the most consistent cars of the week has been Andy Cook and his 2005 Pontiac GTO in Rowdy Radial, and he followed a pair of 5.23 time slips earlier in the week with a 5.24 at 139mph to roll into the final day with a commanding lead.

Josh Davis and Devin Vanderhoof posted an 8.31 at just 131 mph, well off their earlier 6-second pace, but it kept the drop top Mustang at the front of the Unlimited class over Steve Morris in second and Timothy Blythe’s Triumph in third.

John Faraone and Evan Uerkwitz both needed a second lap in the Pro Street class to find the 8-second zone, and Faraone’s 8.40 would stay atop the class over the 8.79 of Uerkwitz.

Corey Thompson held onto the lead of the Super Street class, with an 8.30 at 174mph that included a tail wagging save at the eighth-mile mark when the ’67 Chevelle broke traction.

Clark Rosenstengel didn’t maintain his 7.6-second performance in the Modified class, and that allowed Michael Manuel’s 8.02 pass to leapfrog into the class lead when Clark posted an 8.39 at 190mph.

Stick Shift would also see a leader change, as Jeremy Howell in the ‘FlatFox’ Mustang posted the third quickest pass of the day at 8.01, moving Bryan Crane to the second spot, despite a best-of-the-week 8.60 pass.

The tightest class of the week is now the Sick Street Race class. Tim Flanders tightened the spread between first and second place averages to just eleven thousandths of-a-second at Great Lakes Dragaway, then used a perfect 8.500 to move him into the lead by two thousandths over Alley’s 8.53 pass.

Once finished at Tri-State, racers took off down the highway for a three-stop day on the road.

They first dropped in at the scenic Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area, before hustling down to Cedar Rapids for a stop at Hot Rods By Havlik.

Racers were refreshed with free soft drinks before continuing on to Motion Raceworks for the End of the Road Party. There was a great atmosphere as competitors regailed eachother with stories of the week, keenly aware that just one day remained.

The final day of Sick Summer is now on tap, as the competitors return to Cordova Dragway in Illinois today, with racing action set to start at 11am and continue until 5pm. Tickets are available at the gate.

On track action will also be broadcast on the Tom Bailey YouTube channel: Sick Summer 2023 Day 5 Live Stream

Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.

If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com